Friday, 28 November 2014

We went out walking this afternoon, with friends, Paul and Mary. We have been trying to plan this for weeks now and luckily we'd picked a good day for walking. The sun came through later in the afternoon but for the most part it was overcast, reasonably warm for the time of year and with a light breeze blowing.

We chose the blue route on the Circuits de Randonnée setting out from Braslou.

The first photo looks back to the village..

And again from a little further up the track (NB.slight incline)

A familiar sight in France... the water tower...

And looking ahead up the track (NB. slight incline)

The beauty of this walk is that it combined open countryside with woodland, giving us the benefit of both..

En route we passed L'eau-Morte, which we noted had surprisingly little water in it...It was only in the last twelve months that it was refilled after being drained for a few years.

There were plenty of small deer tracks at the waters edge...

Then more woodland, before coming back into Braslou and a welcome cuppa at Paul and Mary's.

Looking forward to the next one, which we've decided will be the yellow route from Trogues, with a stretch along the banks of the Vienne.....

Wednesday, 26 November 2014

This time of year we get many different types of fungi springing up in different areas of our lawns. This year, for the first time, a large area of our lawn has one we have never noticed in any quantity before.

After reading Susan s Blog this morning (Here) we thought it might be Ivory Funnel which is very toxic.

So it was out with the field guides... Our best guess from reading and comparing is that it is NOT Ivory Funnel but the similar and edible Snowy Waxcap (Hygrocybe virginea)

Needless to say we are no experts and therefore will not be sampling them despite having a good supply.

Monday, 24 November 2014

Having recently had an operation on my eye, I'm "not allowed" to do any stone carving for a few weeks... so my carved stone owls are a no-no, sadly.

However, where one door closes.... another opens and a load of robins come in...

I decided to use some of my paintings of robins, done in very different styles, and transfer them onto fabric to make some Christmas bits and bobs.

I've started with some fine cotton napkins...

I've thought of table runners, a tea cosy, and door-bottom draught excluder but if anyone has any good ideas to use these (and other) transfers onto fabric, for Christmas, please let me know, bearing in mind that once transferred to the fabric they are washable at 30C.

Likewise, if you are looking for a gift that's just a little different, give me a shout. I'm starting a 'blog' of craftwork at www.spangledust.co.uk and will be adding these napkins to that shortly.

Sunday, 23 November 2014

Following on from yesterday's post, we spotted some rather anti-social behaviour at the bird feeders today. We've blogged about this before (see here) but you forget just how aggressive this little garden birds can be!

Two's company, three's a crowd.... You just know how this is going to end!

Unsuccessful the first time, it's back for a second attack...

But when this fails, it employs another tactic....feigning interest in the peanut feeder...

And just when they think the threat has passed, in comes bomber command...

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for all concerned, at this moment a raptor flew overhead and all thoughts of sibling rivalry evaporated. They and this little bluetit, watching from the sidelines, took flight for the safety of the trees...

About Us

After six years living in rural France we felt it was the right time for us to return to northwest England and begin a new chapter in our life together.
We chose to sell the house we already had in England and have a completely fresh start. After several months of property hunting we decided upon the first house we had viewed.
Having settled into the house and made friends in the area, we couldn't be more sure that we've made the right choice.
We have everything we need to hand and can walk out from the house into the most beautiful countryside and coastline.
We don't regret a minute in France but this is our future and we're loving it!